2008 04 fly in perils

VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR

THE

BY DOUG STEWART

Fly-In Perils

A heightened sense of awareness is imperative With the wind blowing at a steady 15 knots and the gusts reaching into the high 30s and low 40s, it certainly made the temperature, which was struggling to get out of the single numbers, feel as if I was in the Arctic.

Combining that with the whiteout conditions that occurred not only as the snow squalls blew through, but also with each new gust, it definitely was not a day that inspired me to go flying. In fact, the way the wind was blowing it was difficult not to go flying just walking from the car to my office at the airport.

Although it is true that I prefer cooler climes to hotter ones, I couldn’t help but think about spring and the onset of warmer weather and, concurrent with that, the beginning of the fly-in season, which for me typically starts with Sun ‘n Fun. With the frigid conditions outside I figured this to be an ideal time to download the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-in NOTAM. As I waited for the download to finish, my thoughts drifted forward a couple of months. Ahhh . . . sunshine . . . warm temperatures . . . many pilots all headed to a power plant on the northeast corner of a small lake in the western part of Florida, there to form up in a single line, at 1,200 feet MSL, and fly IFR (I Follow Roads) to a golf course where they all turn left and fly between two water towers, one resembling an orange, the other a wedding cake, toward a blue-roofed building. Then they turn either left or right, depending on the runway in use, to enter a

32 APRIL 2008

close-in downwind leg for landing.

As all these pilots fly in single file, some are having difficulty maintaining the proper separation. Some pilots are having trouble flying at the recommended 100-knot airspeed.

Some of us in antique and vintage Cubs and Champs have our throttles firewalled, worried that others in their latest and greatest, sleek new high-powered offerings from Minnesota, Oregon (soon to be Kansas), and Texas will run us down from behind unless they have their throttles pulled almost all the way back and are hanging out as much drag in the breeze as they can.

Whoa . . .wait a minute, Stewart. You’re supposed to be thinking soothing, warm thoughts. Somehow they have taken on a somewhat chilling atmosphere, albeit not as cold as it is outside your office. But it is true.

Flying in to a gathering of pilots is a higher-risk endeavor. Whether it’s a big one, like Sun ‘n Fun, or EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, or just a local EAA chapter fly-in breakfast, the risk of many pilots converging at one place at the same time is not without its hazards. And it means that every single pilot flying into or out of any fly-in has the utmost responsibility to keep his or her eyes outside of the cockpit and follow all the recommended procedures for arriving and departing the fly-in.

It is February as I write this column, but when you receive this issue of Vintage Airplane it will be April and you might be getting set

to depart for Sun ‘n Fun, recently arrived there, or looking back fondly on the recently concluded gathering of pilots in Lakeland, Florida. Perhaps you were unable to or chose not to attend this year’s celebration of flight that for me begins the fly-in season in earnest. But you are probably looking ahead to one or more of your favorite fly-ins that you are planning to attend.

Regardless of your perspective, let us all be highly aware . . . fly-ins can be very dangerous. A lot of aircraft converging or departing (and sometimes both) in the same place in a short period of time creates hazards that are not normally present in our typical flight profile. These aircraft are often of quite divergent and dissimilar performance envelopes. There can be many things to distract a pilot, both in the air and on the ground.

If at a towered airport, radio silence might be recommended by NOTAM (as it is at Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture) and the tower controllers might be instructing you to fly the traffic pattern in ways that you are not used to. Be prepared for these things, for if you are not, it could be lethal.

As an example, at last year’s Sun ‘n Fun there was a double fatality at the beginning of the week when an airplane stalled and entered a spin, crashing just a half-mile from the threshold of the runway. In that instance the tower had advised the pilot “to turn base, and not overshoot the runway.” We will never know what distracted the pilot, but the

flight ended in a classic base-to-final stall/spin. The previous year at Oshkosh, a similar accident reduced the pilot population by two when another airplane crashed, again just a little over half a mile from the “Green Dot” that he had been instructed to land “past.” Two controllers in the tower witnessed the airplane stall on final. Again, I can’t help but wonder what distracted the pilot to the point that they forgot about flying final approach “on spot . . . on speed.”

I will always remember my first arrival at OSH and how distracted I was by all the incredible warbirds parked to my right as I flew a short final for runway 18. Luckily I had enough sense to forget about them and pay attention to my landing. But after witnessing some of the most awful landings I have ever seen, both at OSH and at SNF, I am convinced that the distractions of everything that is going on . . . airplanes flying in closer proximity to each other than perhaps a pilot has ever experienced . . . so much happening on the ground to entice a pilot’s eye away from the only thing they should be looking at as they land (their aim point on the runway) . . . and instructions from tower controllers that they might find difficult to obey . . . these distractions, and more, are what lead to what should be best classified as arrivals rather than landings.

Our responsibilities as pilots don’t end once we are on the ground. At some of the smaller fly-ins there might not be more than one (or any) person available to assist in ground movements, thus the responsibility lies solely with the pilot. These responsibilities include exiting the runway as quickly as can be done safely.

Remember, there might very well be another pilot on short final just as you touch down. The following NTSB excerpt describes an accident at OSH in 2003: “Two airplanes were substantially damaged during a collision while both aircraft were landing at the annual Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Reduced separation standards and special arrival proce-

dures were in effect at the time of the accident. The accident aircraft were sequenced for landing and both were cleared to land at the same location on the same runway. The trailing airplane landed and struck the leading airplane as the leading airplane was exiting the runway.

A lot of aircraft converging or departing (and sometimes both) in the same place in a short period of time creates hazards that are not normally present in our typical flight profile.

Clearing the runway, we are still far from relieved of our responsibilities. I still shudder when I think of the horrendous accident that occurred near the end of AirVenture two years ago when a TBM Avenger taxied into an RV-6, killing the passenger in the RV-6. Yes, there were many pilots all trying to take advantage of a break in the weather to expedite their departures, but that’s not an excuse to relax one’s vigilance.

I apologize for being so grim, but we need to be aware that as much as we might get excited by the prospect of flying to a fly-in, we have to treat that flight with the greatest of respect. Here are some things you can do to make our experience safer: Be sure you are not too fatigued upon your arrival at the fly-in. It is difficult to maintain the awareness required if you show up at a place like Lake Parker, with airplanes buzzing all over the place like bees at the

entrance to a hive, if you have just flown eight hours getting there; Be sure you have had a healthy snack and are hydrated about 20 minutes prior to your ETA; Remember that the most important place for you to look is outside the cockpit. Your eyes are the most important piece of equipment that you have or need; If a NOTAM has been published for the fly-in, be sure you have a copy readily available to you in the cockpit, and that you have studied it before the flight began, highlighting important sections for quick reference; If you have passengers, be absolutely sure they have been briefed on the concept of a “sterile cockpit” and that they know how they can assist you in looking for other traffic, or corroborating information from the NOTAM. Your passengers can be an important part of your CRM (cockpit resource management). Be sure you use them as such; Practice your spot-landing techniques before you go. Remember that you might be instructed to “land beyond the Green Dot”; Clear the runway as expeditiously as you safely can; Look for and follow the instructions of flagmen, if any are present, for guidance in ground operations; On departure, fly a shallower climb-out, with small S-turns. It is very possible that an airplane much slower than yours might have departed shortly before you.

These recommendations apply regardless of how big or small the fly-in might be. There is no room for complacency anytime we fly, but that becomes all the more true in the crowded skies of a fly-in. Remember above all to have fun, and may you be blessed with blue skies and tail winds on the day of the fly-in. Just beware the tail wind if you find it on the base leg . . . .

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI of the Year, a Master CFI, and a DPE. He operates DSFI Inc. (www. dsflight.com), based at the Columbia County Airport (1B1).

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